Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/994700
W EEKLY EDITION JUNE 20, 2018 Survey of Sales Staff Reveals Rapid Change …continued By Karleen Kos, PSAI Executive Director Sales Statistic #2 : Budget is the most comm on reason that stronger sales opportunities fall apart More than half (55%) of respondents said that budget was either the first or second most common reason that stronger opportunities fall apart in sales. Even so, far too many salespeople are missing the budget portion of their selling process. They just don't build real value throughout the discovery conversation, so that by the time they start talking about budget, it's an uphill battle. The takeaway is that sales staff should work to be stronger, u p front, in creating real value for prospects . Now, budget is always going to be an issue in sales. It's never going to suddenly just disappear as a concern. But you can avoid so many headaches just by making sure you're strong up front, creating value in t he discovery phase by painting a picture of the event or job site the customer wants and the value you bring in providing it. That way, you're never fighting your way through the budget conversation. Sales Statistic #3 : Most salespeople just aren't getti ng in front of enough prospects About 66.7% of respondents said they had reached out to 250 or fewer leads in the past year. That's a very low number for most types of sales, and it means that the majority of salespeople aren't getting in front of anywhe re close to the 250 - plus prospects they need to. On the other side of the coin, the study showed that only 15% of salespeople reached out to over 1,000 prospects over the past year. Now, selling portable sanitation is not the same as selling vacuum cleane rs or used cars – so the ideal number may be on the low side of average for sales. Whatever the "ideal" number for our industry, the takeaway from the survey is that the majority of salespeople aren't reaching out to enough prospects, while a small group of salespeople are reaching out to tons of prospects. Where does your sales team fit on that spectrum? Chances are, you need to be getting in front of more prospects than you currently are in order to hit your sales goals – especially if you take statisti c #1 to heart and spend less time with bad fits that will only hurt your bottom line if you are "success ful" in winning their business. P AGE 3 CONTINUED ON PAGE 4